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Shattered Sky/Chapter 4
Chapter description :Alderheart is massaging Twigpaw's leg, and the gray she-cat has no reaction besides staring out into space. Leafpool asks how she is doing, and the dark ginger tom responds that she is doing much better, and that her leg is just wrenched. He asks Twigpaw if he is hurting her, and she shakes her head no. Briarlight meows that it is great having here, and will miss the apprentice when she goes back to the apprentices' den. Alderheart assures Briarlight that Twigpaw will come back and visit, to which the she-cat sighs, and the tom wishes he could say something to cheer her up. He notes that the apprentice has been depressed ever since the incident with Violetpaw. :Briarlight asks to hear about her sister's kits, saying that it seemed like yesterday she and Blossomfall were playing together as kits. Leafpool stifles a yawn and replies that she'll be a good mother, and that new life is good for the Clans, even among all the trouble. It is noted that she and Alderheart are delivering Blossomfall's litter. The brown she-cat asks if their eyes are open, and Alderheart says that it'll be a few days, but all four seem to be healthy. She recites the kits' names: Stemkit, Eaglekit, Plumkit, and Shellkit, and says that they have such beautiful names and can't wait to see them. Alderheart stifles some laughter, saying that she should've seen Thornclaw last night. He says they had a hard time keeping the new father calm. Leafpool's eyes gleam with amusement, saying that he may be a senior warrior, but his first litter of kits made him super nervous. :Alderheart watches Twigpaw, thinking she would be interested in hearing about the kits, but she doesn't seem to be listening. He tells her she'll be fine, and rises to his paws, swaying because of tiredness. Leafpool suggests he get some sleep, saying that she was able to get some rest, but he was up from the time Blossomfall started kitting. He agrees, and the brown tabby tells him to get Jayfeather, saying he's been gone a long time. Alderheart steps outside the medicine cat den and spots Purdy and remembers that the brown tabby had a bellyache. He asks if he should get the elder some juniper berries, but Purdy declines the offer, saying he'll take it easy on eating, then lays down on his paws and starts sleeping. :The tom looks down on the resting elder until he spots Rowanstar and Bramblestar in the middle of an argument and groans. The ShadowClan leader says it's obvious that they have to lead another attack, and take back ShadowClan territory. Bramblestar tensely replies that they need to take their time and not dash in all at once. The ShadowClan leader snaps that he's making excuses, and Bramblestar's voice grows cold, asking him if he remembers about WindClan and RiverClan, with WindClan's borders being closed and RiverClan nowhere near being ready to fight. Alderheart notices that Jayfeather is nearby, along with Lionblaze and Cinderheart. Jayfeather and Cinderheart are listening to the argument, interested, while Lionblaze pretends to groom himself, but listens as well. Tawnypelt is nearby, paying attention to the bickering. The dark ginger tom walks over to sit next to his Clanmates, and Cinderheart brushes her tail over his. Meanwhile, the argument continues. Rowanstar hisses that he never thought ThunderClan were such cowards. Lionblaze breaks off from his grooming and gets to his paws, glaring at the ShadowClan leader, sitting down only when his mate whispers something in his ear. :Bramblestar growls, saying that he never thought he would hear anything like that from Rowanstar. He adds that if he and his Clanmates weren't so hesitant to attack the former ShadowClan cats, the battle had a better chance of going better. The dark brown tabby whirls around to face the two medicine cats, and asks them to tell Rowanstar that ThunderClan is in no shape to go into battle. Alderheart merely nods, while Jayfeather tells the dark ginger tom that if they sent the cats into battle, dead cats would be on the leader's conscience. Tawnypelt steps forward before her mate can retaliate, and suggests that there has to be another way. Both Rowanstar and Bramblestar glare at her, with Rowanstar demanding her to keep out of this, and Bramblestar adding that it was leader business. Tawnypelt becomes angry and snarls that it was every cat's business, and that she still has kin in the camp. Alderheart realizes that most of his Clanmates have gathered to watch the leaders, with most of them furious. He spots Ivypool glaring at Dovewing and Tigerheart, and he wonders what that is all about. :Cinderheart meows that Rowanstar has a lot of nerve expecting ThunderClan to be carrying the fight. She adds that if most of the ShadowClan cats don't want Rowanstar to be leader, then maybe Rowanstar shouldn't be leader of all. Shock spreads through Alderheart, and he thinks that StarClan chose Rowanstar as leader and gave him nine lives. Refusing to defend that would be violating the warrior code. His vision begins to blur, and he realizes that he is tired. Telling Jayfeather that he is wanted, he goes over to the apprentices' den to sleep. :He opens his eyes and finds himself with a large group of cats, who are thin, have ragged pelts, and are lying down and sleeping as if they are exhausted. The medicine cat realizes that this is SkyClan and that this is another vision. He tries to pinpoint where he is, and sees walls of gray stone, with a floor of stone too. He sees straw on the floor, and light pouring in from narrow openings near the top of the walls, and thinks that it is some sort of Twoleg den. Alderheart suddenly remembers the place where he and Needletail had sheltered from the rain, and that this could be the exact same place. He sees that the barriers dividing the den were in the same place, and he thinks excitedly that if this was the same barn, SkyClan wasn't so far. Movement catches his eye, and he sees a gray tom emerging from the shadows with a mouse in his jaws, and gives the mouse next to a queen whose belly was swollen. :Alderheart notes that he never saw this cat before, and that he must've overlooked him in his previous vision. The tom has the same gray pelt as Twigpaw, and when he looked up, the same amber eyes as Violetpaw. Excitement rushes through the ginger tom, thinking that even though Twigpaw and Violetpaw's mother is assumed dead, this cat could be their kin, and the two apprentices members of SkyClan. He springs to his paws, wanting to closely observe the tom, but he awakes to harsh voices. Hissing with annoyance, he sees that the voices belong to Ivypool and Tigerheart debating about when to attack the rogues. The tom becomes frustrated at the interruption of his vision on the brink of discovery, and tries to commit every detail of the vision to memory so he can report it to Bramblestar. Characters Major *Rowanstar *Bramblestar }} Minor *Leafpool *Briarlight *Purdy *Jayfeather *Cinderheart *Lionblaze *Tawnypelt *Tigerheart *Dovewing *Ivypool *Hawkwing (Unnamed) *Unnamed queen }} Mentioned *Blossomfall *Stemkit *Eaglekit *Plumkit *Shellkit *Thornclaw *Needletail *Pebbleshine (Unnamed) }} Notes and references Category:Chapter subpages Category:Shattered Sky Category:A Vision of Shadows arc